


Forever

by Lockedmyselfupinaroom



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2020-01-13 00:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18458042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockedmyselfupinaroom/pseuds/Lockedmyselfupinaroom
Summary: This is a short one shot of Ash and Eiji comforting each other, after both can't sleep. Post-canon with Ash being alive and living together with Eiji, but the both of them are still haunted by the past.





	Forever

Eiji stirs, hands outstretched and seeking for something - anything- to hold on to. The absence makes his body quiver, fingers grasp at the bed sheets, at the void of that familiar touch.

Eiji's eyes fly open as a panicked breath is sucked in. Feet hit the cool floor before he runs out of his room, the name escaping his lips over and over like a mantra. 

“Ash! Ash! Ash!”

“Oi,” the slightly annoyed voice chimes through Eiji's eardrums like a saving grace. A warm relief washes over him, head to toe. Panic dwindles and his heart swells as his feet carry him towards the source of that voice. 

“What's wrong?” Ash asks, concerned. His pale body is illuminated by the refrigerator light, the dark shadows contrasting sharply with the phosphorescent glow against his bare skin. He wears nothing but underwear as he scavenges the fridge, hungry for a midnight snack. 

“I thought…” Eiji pauses, not wanting to voice his fear aloud, “nevermind.” He ambles towards Ash slowly, resting his forehead against Ash's back. His entire body feels sore, the nightmare was so vivid. It left him hollow and shaken to the bone. 

Ash closes the fridge and turns his body towards Eiji. A swift finger lifts Eiji's face upwards, and Eiji is met with a pair of emerald eyes. Eyes that hold equal amounts of pain and love. Eyes that Eiji can only stare into for so long before he feels himself slipping away, drawn in by their intensity until he is swallowed whole. 

“Eiji, how many times do I need to tell you? I'm not going anywhere.” He is resolute, unwavering. Fire ignites in those green eyes and Eiji finally breaks his stare, blushing. 

“At least 100 times more,” Eiji is now staring at Ash's lips, his mind whirring with an odd sense of deja vu. 

A smirk etches across those lips before they are upon Eiji's, his breath stolen away by Ash's insistence. 

Eiji leans forward into the kiss, pressing his lips firmly against Ash's in an attempt to push away his nightmare. His nightmares are all the same - Ash is dead, and Eiji is left alone, forever. 

But Ash's warm lips soothe Eiji like a salve on a wound, and Eiji's shoulders relax as he and Ash part, slowly. Their breath mingles together for a second, their lips still only an inch apart. 

Ash licks his lips and concedes, “I couldn't sleep either.” 

“Is that why you're rummaging the fridge at this hour? You know it's bad to eat this late at night,” Eiji warns. 

Ash nods, “yeah, but I just couldn't stay still in bed a minute longer...I thought some food might help ease my mind.”

Eiji's eyebrows furrow, “what's wrong?”

A dark cloud broods over Ash, and he turns his body away from Eiji, pacing a few steps forward. “I-I don't know how long our peace can last like this. I shouldn't be with you Eiji...one of these days my past is going to come back. And you'll be in danger again.” 

Eiji chews on his words carefully before speaking. He knows how Ash feels. How could he not? The two are connected in a way that even he can't fully fathom. And that's precisely why Ash needs to know that Eiji simply can't live a life without Ash. The two need each other, the way fire needs oxygen to survive. 

And Eiji's biggest fear is that his fire, his Ash, is going to fizzle out. Ash, forever a free spirit, could make a choice someday that in the end will numb the both of them from the life they desire. The life they deserve, together. Ash's greatest fear is that his dangerous past lifestyle will lead to Eiji's demise. 

“I'm not in any danger,” Eiji reassures him, “Dino and Colonel Foxx have been gone for several months. You don't ever have to go back to being a gang leader.” 

Ash pauses in his pacing, drumming his fingers against the counter. “I still have enemies. It doesn't matter where I go or what I do. Someone somewhere will come after me someday.”

“And we will deal with it when that time comes,” Eiji says. 

Ash turns sharply to stare at Eiji, utterly astounded by his remark. “You aren't getting involved. Not anymore.” 

Eiji steps forward and places an arm around Ash's torso. Ash is shaking, scared in his skin of his past demons. “You aren't alone Ash Lynx. Even if I don't step in, Sing, Blanca, Bones, Max or countless others will come to help. There's no point in worrying about ‘what ifs’.” 

“Tell that to yourself the next time you have that nightmare,” Ash replies smartly. 

Eiji chuckles, breaking the tension, “you're right. I will. You're alive and I'm not going to waste any more time worrying about what hasn't happened.” 

Ash blinks several times, “Eiji, you're too good for me.” 

“I told you I'm with you forever Ash. So don't ever get any ideas about leaving,” Eiji says, his voice catching slightly in his throat. 

A sliver of hope flashes across Ash's green eyes, and Eiji smiles. “I can't ever leave you Eiji,” Ash confesses, “I'm too selfish. I don't want to be without you.” 

Eiji finds Ash's hand and grasps it, giving him a squeeze, “that isn't selfish at all.” Eiji kisses Ash again, soft and tender, relishing the fact that he gets to do this for a long time to come. 

He won't let anything happen to Ash. And he knows, down deep in his heart, that Ash has made the same promise about Eiji. The two have been entwined in the same fate, the same path moving forward. 

Fear of danger, fear of death, and the demons from their past will always haunt them. But they cannot rule them. Ash and Eiji will face these fears and terrors together, hand in hand. It's an unspoken pact that they've formed, to handle the future as one. They'll treasure every moment together, hold it close in the depth of their hearts, preparing for whatever pain may come.

“Let's go back to sleep,” Eiji suggests. His lips are still a hair's breadth apart from Ash's, lingering as if to confirm that Ash's presence is real. 

“And you'll stay with me?” The question quivers softly from Ash, so quiet it almost can't be heard. But Eiji knows the significance of that question, he knows of the fear behind those words. And he knows what one singular utterance will qualm all of Ash's worries.

“Forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this short little fic! Please let me know :)


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